Open Science Manifesto

Towards an Inclusive Open Science for Social and Evironmental Well-being

At OCSDNet, we engaged in a participatory consultation with scientists, development practitioners and activists from 26 countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia to understand what are the values at the core of open science in development. What we learned is that there is not one right way to do open science. It requires constant negotiation and reflection, and the process will always differ by context. But we also found a set of seven values and principles at the core of their vision for a more inclusive open science in development. This video describes the 7 principles that we believe constitute a more open and inclusive science in development.

Network-based collaboration is allowing us to re-imagine scientific research as a more open and collaborative process. This is inspiring many open science initiatives :

Open access is encouraging scientists to share their data and research online.

The open-source hardwaremovement is promoting the independent design of technology.

And citizen science projects are inviting the general public to help scientists collect large amounts of data.

However, t his model is not making science a more inclusive and representative practice.

M any scientists around the world continue to be underrepresented and excluded from scientific research

New technologies continue to exclude those with limited digital rights .

And citizens rarely get to shape the research agenda.

This model of open science is not challenging the core values of science. Instead, it is reproducing and amplifying global inequalities in scientific research, defeating its purpose of making science more open.

We need to ask ourselves what values have been absent from existing discussions.

To whom does knowledge belong ?

Whose voice counts in science?

And how can we increase people’s participation and agency in scientific production?

At OCSDNet, we engaged in a participatory consultation with scientists, development practitioners and activists from 26 countries i n Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia to understand what are the values at the core of open science in development.

What we learned is that there is not one right way to do open science. It requires constant negotiation and reflection , and t he process will always differ by context.

But we also found a set of seven values and principles at the core of their vision for a more inclusive open science in development.

At OCSDNet, we propose that Open and Collaborative Science…

Principle 1: Enables a knowledge commons where every individual has the means to decide how their knowledge is governed and managed to address their needs

Principle 2: It recognizes cognitive justice , the need for diverse understandings of knowledge making to co-exist in scientific production

Principle 3: It p ractices situated openness by addressing the ways in which c ontext, power and inequality condition scientific research

Principle 4: It advocates for every individual’s right to research and enables different forms of participation at all stages of the research process.

Principle 5: It fosters equitable collaboration between scientists and social actors and cultivates co-creation and social innovation in society

Principle 6: It incentivizes inclusive infrastructures that empower people of all abilities to m ake, and use accessible open-source technologies.

And finally, open and collaborative science:

Principle 7: strives to use knowledge as a pathway to sustainable development, equipping every individual to improve the well-being of our society and planet

If you share this vision for a more inclusive Open Science- or seek to challenge it – join the conversation. Follow us on twitter and facebook at @OCSDNet, and visit our website: www.ocsdnet.org.